[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 125 (Wednesday, July 24, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E974-E975]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      RECOGNIZING LISETTE MORTON AND HER SERVICE TO THE HOUSE OF 
                            REPRESENTATIVES

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JERROLD NADLER

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 24, 2019

  Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 
Congressional career of Lisette Morton, my long time Legislative 
Director and the Director of Policy, Planning, and Member Services of 
the House Judiciary Committee.
   Lisette began her career on Capitol Hill nearly 20 years ago working 
on environmental issues for the late Congressman Bruce Vento. She 
started working as my Legislative Assistant in the year 2000 and became 
my Legislative Director in 2004.
   Lisette has an encyclopedic understanding of a huge range of issues 
and always ensured that I was well prepared for hearings, markups, and 
floor debates. She is a constant source of reliable and informed advice 
on which I have relied for almost two decades.
   Throughout her tenure in my office, Lisette worked tirelessly to 
meet New York's unique transportation and infrastructure needs. She 
helped achieve a major legislative accomplishment by securing $100 
million under the Projects of National Significance Title of the 
Transportation bill for the cross harbor rail freight tunnel. Securing 
this much money in a highway bill for a rail project was unprecedented. 
She also consistently ensured that passenger rail legislation protected 
resources for the Northeast Corridor, while preventing massive cuts to 
Amtrak. She ensured I had a seat on the Conference Committee that 
negotiated the 2015 FAST Act, which allowed me to bring an additional 
$1.5 billion in highway and transit formula funding to New York. In 
2016, she worked on the FAA extension and ensured that my legislation, 
the Families Flying Together Act, was included in the final bill.
   Lisette has faced down many national crises as a member of my team. 
She worked for me on September 11, 2001, and was tireless in her 
efforts to get a proper detoxification and cleanup after the attack in 
New York and to hold the EPA accountable. Without her fierce advocacy 
and dedication, there would be more 9/11 responders and survivors sick 
today. Her work laid the groundwork for everything that followed, 
including the establishment of a permanent World Trade Center Health 
Program and 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund. During the BP oil spill in 
2010, Lisette worked tirelessly to get language I authored to ban the 
use of dispersants included in the Gulf Spill legislation that passed 
the House of Representatives. Finally, during Superstorm Sandy, Lisette 
worked closely with me and my staff to drive resources quickly to those 
who needed it in the aftermath of the storm. She worked around the 
clock with federal, state, and local officials to solve problems as 
they arose and pass supplemental funding legislation to build back our 
critical New York infrastructure and make it more resilient.
   Lisette has always been an advocate for the arts, especially music, 
and protecting the rights of artists. Lisette played a critical role in 
my work on copyright issues with the Judiciary Committee. Lisette 
worked tremendously hard to pass the Music Modernization Act out of the 
Judiciary Committee and ultimately out of the House by a remarkable 
vote of 415-0. Passage of this bill was a major legislative achievement 
that took years to complete and would not have happened without her 
hard work and dedication to the effort.
   Lisette played a critical role in helping to elect me to the 
position of Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee in 2017. She 
quickly established herself as the Director of Member Services and 
worked to make sure Members concerns are heard and that committee staff 
and Members are kept informed of Judiciary Committee business.
   This year, when I became Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, 
Lisette took on the new role of Director of Policy, Planning, and 
Member Services. She worked with our entire Judiciary team to create a 
bold legislative agenda, to ensure hearings were held on critical 
issues facing the country, and to pass meaningful legislation out of 
Committee and onto the floor of the House. With her help, the Judiciary 
Committee passed H.R. 1, the For the People Act; H.R. 8, the Bipartisan 
Background Checks Act; H.R. 1112, the Enhanced Background Checks Act; 
H.R. 6, the American Dream and Promise Act; H.R. 1585, the Violence 
Against Women Act Reauthorization; H.R. 5, the Equality Act; and H.R. 
1327, the Permanent Reauthorization of the September

[[Page E975]]

11th Victim Compensation Fund Act. Our Committee would not be as active 
or successful without her incredible work.
   None of these accomplishments happen by chance. They are the result 
of hard work and years of building relationships on the Hill, in the 
administration, and in New York. She understands how this institution 
works--and how it should work--and she knows how to do the necessary 
work to turn a simple bill into an organizing tool for a movement. She 
has a unique ability to build relationships and work with others to get 
a job done. That is what makes her so effective in creating lasting 
change.
   And I am not the only one to hold that view. Judiciary Committee 
Ranking Member Doug Collins has said, Lisette ``has given a great deal 
of service to this House and to me and to my staff personally. She will 
be missed, on both sides of this aisle, because she understands 
completely what this House should be about and that is actually service 
and actually getting legislation done.''
   But Lisette is more than just a staffer to me. To me, she is like 
family. She has given our office more than her hard work, she has given 
us her great sense of humor and ready laugh, her kind support, and her 
willingness to share her life with us. She tells stories with great 
passion about her beloved Nationals and Caps, her trips to Spring 
Training or to the Minnesota State Fair, her love of all things Star 
Wars, Star Trek, and Disney, and her love of Bravo TV and good books. 
She has brought all that joy and life with her to work each day in 
addition to being an incredibly hard working, capable, and brilliant 
staffer.
   I know I will miss Lisette greatly, but I am happy she has found a 
new position working on issues she is passionate about. And I am 
pleased she will continue to pursue those passions both in and out of 
the office every day. I wish her luck and joy in all her future 
endeavors.
   And so, it is only fitting to say as a final farewell, ``Lisette, 
may the Force be with you.''

                          ____________________